Before the construction of an offshore wind farm can begin, a lot of paperwork really needs to be done. The scale of the administrative challenges associated with offshore wind is so great that the entirety of these procedures usually takes up to several years. That’s why countries betting on offshore wind energy are trying to simplify regulations for building offshore farms. A case in point is Estonia, whose plans for offshore wind are truly ambitious. What will change in the Estonian legal system?
Offshore law – a good example from Estonia
The Estonian legislature has decided to amend the law to make offshore wind energy investments more dynamic. Specifically, the amendment to the Construction Code, adopted on May 28 this year, which introduced a new type of license for wind power plants built offshore – the so-called superficies license. Under the new legal realities, the filing of a single application by an investor will allow him to obtain environmental approval for special water use, a location permit and the construction permit itself.
The amendments to the Construction Code are intended to lead to the fact that an applicant for a construction permit for an offshore wind farm will be obliged to submit fewer documents than before. All this in order to be able to efficiently build a power plant at sea, while ensuring high standards of environmental protection.
Estonia bets on offshore wind
Estonia, like other countries in the Baltic Sea area, is betting on the dynamic development of offshore wind energy. The Energy and Climate Plan submitted by the Estonian authorities to the European Commission calls for the country to have as many as 14 wind farms in the Baltic Sea by 2030, with a total capacity of 7 GW. With this, Estonia plans to produce 26 TWh of energy. Certainly, these are extremely ambitious plans, and their realization seems impossible not only without allocating significant financial resources, but also without liberalizing the law.